The present invention relates to clamp assemblies and, more particularly, to a novel clamp pad for being provided in association with a bar clamp for increasing the clamping area and for elevating and supporting the bar clamp with respect to a work surface.
Conventional bar clamp assemblies generally include an elongated pipe or rod, hereinafter collectively referred to as a bar, and a pair of opposing clamp jaws. The jaws of conventional bar clamp assemblies define parallel, opposed workpiece engaging surfaces. At least one of the clamp jaws is slidably disposed on the bar and selectively fixed in place at a desired position on the bar. A clamping actuator is further provided to linearly advance the other jaw towards and away from the one jaw, to selectively apply and release pressure to workpiece(s) disposed between the clamp jaws. Such bar clamp assemblies are conventionally used for holding a workpiece during operations such as cutting, drilling, nailing, screwing, gluing, and similar such manipulative procedures where the workpiece must be held steady or two or more workpieces held in predetermined relative positions.
When a bar clamp is used to clamp a workpiece, it is generally preferred to provide a protective layer between the face of the clamp jaw and the workpiece surface, to prevent damage or abrasion to the clamped workpiece by the jaws of the clamp, which are typically cast from steel. For this purpose, often a piece of scrap wood, or other relatively soft material, is interposed between the clamping jaw and the workpiece. Sometimes, clamp pads are disposed over the clamp jaws.